The name on your wrist
by AniZH
Summary: When you turn 18, the name of your soulmate appears on your wrist. Jade has loved Beck for four years now. She hopes so much that it will be his names appearing on her wrist.


On your 18th birthday, exactly on the time you were born, you took your first breath, a name appears on your left wrist. The first name of your soulmate.

It has been like that since the beginning of time and nobody questions it. That's just how it is.

Not all soulmates find each other. The world is a big place, though it works out surprisingly often. Most people believe, if both you and your soulmate die of natural causes, you will meet before.

But because it doesn't always work out or sometimes only very late in life, it's allowed to marry another person than your soulmate. You are allowed to have a family with someone else. That hasn't always been the case. Except possibly for those whose soulmate has died before they have met them. If you have never touched each other and the other dies, the name on your wrist will just fade away. The so-called "nameless" have been known to marry and find comfort in each other for centuries.

People whose soulmate was still out there weren't always allowed to marry another peron

Some people still don't like to see it. They do understand that teenagers date around and get themselves some experience but as soon as they turn 18 and know the name of their soulmate, some believe they should just wait for them.

Beck's parents are people like that. They have found each other while his father has been 29, his mother 25 and have loved each other ever since. They have married only a month after they first met which isn't that unusual.

They accept when he starts dating at 13. They get extremely angry with him when he tells them he has a girlfriend with 14. Having an actual girlfriend is something much closer than dating and in their opinion only appropriate with your soulmate.

When they catch him telling her that he loves her, they ground him. Those words aren't for anyone but your soulmate.

Beck doesn't care what his parents say. Because he does love this girl. And actually, he is pretty sure that Jade is his soulmate.

o

Her father is indifferent about it. Her mother is happy that she has a nice relationship with a good boy.

Well, her parents were married themselves because their names matched. Too bad that both their names aren't that uncommon.

They tried to work through it because they did believe they were soulmates. What a conincidence it would otherwise be that their soulmates are named like each other and that they met.

Until her mother finally knew she didn't love him and this couldn't be how soulmates felt, and they divorced.

They are both remarried now, possibly to their real soulmates. At least, the names match again and her mother does tell her that it feels different this time. Her stepfather makes her feel safe in a way her father has never been able to.

Jade tells her that Beck also makes her feel safe. Her mother smiles in that way that means that that's different but she won't argue because then they will get into another fight.

"Just enjoy it. Without thinking about your soulmate," she tells her.

Yet, Jade remembers all the talks her mother has had with her after she had met her stepfather. Jade told her that she would be stupid to just marry again because her parents' marriage had been a desaster. Her mother described to her every time how the new man made her feel, how just holding his hands made her relax, how an unknown weight lifted from her heart every time she saw him, how she knew nothing could ever happen to her when she lied in his arms.

Jade always raised her eyebrows at that. She doesn't anymore. She is sure she experiencing the exact same thing. Beck makes her feel that way. He makes her feel safe like that.

o

o

It's four years later and they haven't been a couple all the time but they have loved each other through it all.

And they are together now and don't want to ever break up again.

But Jade doesn't know what will happen today. They have of course mentioned the soulmate-thing. Everyone has. Everyone in their year is excited to see what their very own names will be, if they possibly know their soulmate already though that's rather rare. Everyone talks about it all the time.

However, Jade and Beck have never talked about what will happen if they aren't each other's soulmate. Will they break up? Or won't it matter?

But if they stay together and then, some day, one of them will meet their soulmate... Won't it be even harder to break up then if they have been together even more years?

She worries. Today more than ever before because for a few hours now, it's her 18th birthday.

She is still in bed. Beck has slept over today.

Her head rests on his chest, right over his heart. She knows he has been awake for quite a while as well, though neither has spoken a word yet.

But he does stroke her arm absent-mindedly. And she is sure he thinks about the same things he is. She hears how his heart beats harder and faster every now and then.

"Are you nervous?" she asks when it's happening again.

He startles, then drops a kiss on her head. "I didn't know you were awake."

Jade slowly sits up and looks down to Beck. Their eyes meets as she repeats herself: "Are you nervous?"

"I am," he answers, of course also knowing they are thinking about the same thing. "But I know it's gonna be my name."

"Cocky," she comments with a smirk although she prays to every god she can imagine that it's true.

He sits up as well and takes her hands in his. "I love you, Jade. I feal it in my heart that you are my soulmate."

But what if she isn't? Yes, she also feels like that. She definitely knows that safety her mother is talking to her about for years, after all.

However, how would they know what soulmates actually feel like if they aren't each other's? Maybe, they don't have an inkling of what love can really feel like.

Yes, she already feels way too often that she will burst out of love for Beck, like it hurts, but maybe it should be even more or at least different.

Though she can't imagine, every loving someone just close to that – and she doesn't want to. She wants to stay with Beck.

Sometimes, she wishes, your soulmates' name wouldn't appear on your wrist. Because it's quite possibly if she will read another than Beck's name there later, she will just die. She can't imagine her life with someone else anymore.

But some name will appear and she will have to live with it either way. They will have to talk about it if it's someone else. She dreads it.

o

She is sitting in her English class but can't even remotely concentrate on the lesson anymore. She is only staring at the clock. Finally, it's 10:11am. The exact time on her birth certificate.

She grabs her left wrist and wets her dry lips with her tongue. She wears a wristband today, so absolutely nobody will know the name before her by accident.

And she herself won't look now. It's in the middle of class. She doesn't know how she will handle it. She doesn't want to break down in front of the whole class. And she can't ask to use the restroom. What if some classmates will guess she is just going to get out to take a look?

So, she waits until class is over, makes sure to loose Robbie who wants to talk to her about something, and goes into the janitor's closet.

Someone is already there. Beck.

He is the only one who knows her exact time of birth. The other don't even know if she was born in the morning, afternoon, evening or night. They also haven't asked her. They all have shortly looked down to her wrist when they had congratulated her on her birthday but nobody had asked if the name is already there under the wristband. Everyone knows it's impolite to ask someone after their soulmate's name.

"Mind, if I stay?" Beck asks with a smile.

He knows she hasn't looked yet. He has anticipated that she would go here to be alone when she would take a look.

But as this is about her as much as him, at least she hopes so, she of course doesn't mind him staying and shakes her head.

Then, she leans against the door, Beck opposite of her, watching her closely.

She swallows hard, takes a deep breath and slowly pulls the wristband far enough away to peek under it.

An enormous grin spread across her face and is instantly mirrored by Beck who knows by her face: "It's my name."

"It is," she says breathlessly and the next moment, they lie in each other's arms and kiss each other so deeply that they could very well be one person.

"And I thought you were so sure," she teases, feeling like a heavy weight has been lifted from her, while he, still standing close, pulls the wristband fully up to examine the name himself.

"I was," he assures. "I'm still happy." He sees his own name on his girlfriend's wrist. "Wow."

As he puts serval kisses on it, Jade says, still with that enormous grin that can't be taken away from her anymore: "I should take a picture and post it all around school. Now every girl will definitely know that you belong to me."

"Actually," Beck says, now stroking the name with his thumb. "This marks you belonging to me. It's my name engraved on your body. You have to wait another two months."

They kiss again, both smiling, and they barely break apart for Jade to suggest: "Should we mess with the others and act like it isn't your name at all?"

Beck chuckles and kisses her again.

"I could put the wristband back on," she says wickedly, "and we both could act pissed and not even touch one another. And I could ask Robbie or Andre when their birthdays are again as if it shows one of their names but I will wait for their birthdays to be sure it's them."

"That's mean," Beck claims but he seems more than amused. "Also, I'm not sure if I can act anything but happy right now."

"You are a bad actor then," Jade teases him and they share another kiss before Beck whispers: "And yet, you love me and I'm your soulmate."

He is. He really, really is. It's not like they haven't known deep down inside. But it feels good to finally have the prove.

They kiss again, slow because they definitely have all the time in the world now. They are destined to be together and they will stay together until the end of time.


End file.
